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Virginia enrollment in qualified health plans

As was the case in most states that use HealthCare.gov, exchange enrollment peaked in Virginia in 2016, when 421,897 people enrolled. Enrollment dropped to 410,726 people enrolled for 2017, and to 400,015 people for 2018. A similar enrollment decline occurred in most of the other states that use the federally run exchange, due in part to the Trump Administration’s funding cuts for exchange marketing, outreach, and enrollment assistance. In addition, confusion about the status of the ACA’s individual mandate may have played a role.

Virginia expanded Medicaid in 2019, so as expected, enrollment in private plans through Virginia’s exchange dropped substantially for 2020. By the end of open enrollment, 269,474 people signed up for private plans. People with income between 100 and 138 percent of the poverty level used to be eligible for premium subsidies to offset the cost of private plans in Virginia’s exchange. But now that Medicaid has been expanded, these people are eligible for Medicaid instead.

How has Obamacare helped Virginia residents?

Prior to ACA implementation, the uninsured rate in Virginia was 12.3 percent, according to U.S. Census data. It had fallen to 8.7 percent by 2016, and remained at 8.8 percent by 2018 — and has likely fallen quite a bit more since then, as Medicaid expansion took effect in 2019.

Now that Medicaid has been expanded, total enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP in Virginia is 47 percent higher than it was in late 2013, whereas it had only grown by about 8 percent as of 2018 (prior to expansion taking effect).

As of 2019, there were more than 264,000 people receiving premium subsidies in the Virginia exchange. The subsidies averaged nearly $598/month, making coverage affordable for people who would otherwise not be able to afford it.

Medicare in the state of Virginia

As of late 2019, there were 1,522,606 people enrolled in Medicare in Virginia Medicare. That’s about 17.6 percent of the state’s population, which is roughly the same as the percentage of the US population enrolled in Medicare.